Men charged over ‘railway power cable theft’

Listen to this article

Eleven men have been remanded in custody after being arrested and charged with conspiracy to steal railway power cable from the railway line in the North Cotswolds area between November 2011 and May 2012.

On Thursday, 24 May 2012, officers from British Transport Police (BTP) executed search warrants at five addresses in the Handsworth and Smethwick areas of Birmingham.

This was part of Operation Distillery, an ongoing major investigation into the theft of railway cable between Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh between 3 November 2011 and 17 May 2012.

Seven men, originally from Romania, were arrested by BTP officers on suspicion of conspiracy to steal railway cable.

The previous day, Wednesday 23 May, four other Romanian men were detained after a suspicious vehicle was stopped by Warwickshire Police officers near to the railway line in Church Lawford, Warwickshire.

All 11 men, who are aged between 19 and 36, appeared before magistrates in Birmingham on Friday, 25 May, and were charged with conspiracy to steal railway power cable.

The men were remanded in custody to appear at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, 1 June.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest Rail News

ORR review leads to 50% reduction in maximum fees for ticket refunds

New rules will mean that from 2 April the maximum fee that train operators and ticket retailers can charge...

More like this...